CA Property Transfers to Grandchildren

Propositions 58 & 1931. These constitutional initiatives provide property tax relief for real property transfers between parents and children and from grandparents to grandchildren. In general, Proposition 58 states that real property transfers, from parent to child or child to parent, may be excluded from reassessment. Proposition 193 expands this tax relief to include transfers from grandparent(s) to grandchild(ren). In both cases, a claim must be filed within three years of the date of transfer to receive the full benefit of the exclusion. To take advantage of this you MUST file a “Claim for Reassessment Exclusion” available from the County Tax Assessor.

Community Property With Right of Survivorship

Community Property with Right of Survivorship: This is a relatively new form of property ownership (July 2001) in California and it looks like a good bet for most married couples. It provides all the benefits of both community property and joint tenancy.

Community Property derives from the Mexican or Spanish Civil Law, rather than the English Common Law, that most of the laws in the United States come from.

Community Property is loosely defined as any property acquired during a marriage, except from gifts or inheritance. Couples can agree in writing to re-categorize property they own as separate or community as they see fit.

Do You Have an A-B Trust?

ANOTHER CHANGE!! Due to tax law changes initiated by President Bush, A-B trusts are now only for people with estates in excess of TWO million dollars. This means that there is no Federal Estate (death) Tax on the first two million dollars of assets. Amounts over that may still be taxed at a rate of about 50%. If you have an A-B Trust and assets less than two million dollars, call me to discuss the benefits of simplifying your trust.

If You have an estate of over 2 million for a single person or 4 million for a married couple, call me to see how we can save more tax dollars.